Akal Takht, SGPC condemn Centre’s Chandigarh proposal

Akal Takht and the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) have strongly condemned the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill proposed by the Centre.

Akal Takht’s acting Jathedar, Giani Kuldeep Singh Gargaj, said that at a time when the Sikh community and Punjabis all over the world were commemorating the 350th martyrdom of Guru Tegh Bahadur — who sacrificed his life for the Hindu community — the Centre should have announced a revival of the rights of the ‘Panth’ and ‘Punjab’, but it failed to do so.

“Punjab is not like a ‘sugar candy’ but ‘iron chickpeas’, which cannot be chewed,” said Gargaj.

He said that the introduction of the Chandigarh bill would be like making another ‘daka’ of Punjab’s rights. He added, “They should never forget that Chandigarh was created by uprooting Punjab villages. This place represents Punjab’s heritage, which is home not only to Sikhs, but also to Hindus, Muslims, and other communities. Chandigarh is Punjab’s capital, and the government should refrain from creating obstacles there to avoid vitiating the atmosphere.”

SGPC president Harjinder Singh Dhami has announced to oppose this move in collaboration with the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD).

SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal has called a core committee meeting tomorrow at the party headquarters in Chandigarh to prepare a decisive response against it.

“It is another move by the BJP-led Centre to deprive Punjab of its powers. First, they curtailed our participation in the BBMB management; then they weakened the SGPC and facilitated the creation of a separate committee for Haryana; and now they are introducing amendments to Chandigarh’s governance. We will meet with the SAD and oppose it,” he said.